Consequential Incentive
by TheBestVariety
Summary: RED's & BLU's confront one another on a daily basis, that is, on the battlefield. Any unauthorized interaction with a BLU during ceasefire is prohibited, according to the RED Spy. Those who violate this rule will be dealt with accordingly. Scout, motivated by his disdain toward Spy, decides to affiliate himself with a neighboring BLU Frenchman solely to spite his teammate.


Chapter 1

(This fan fiction's cover image was created for _Consequential Incentive_ and provided by Steam user Conperani.)

"Scout, I'll hear no excuses from you this time. I'm tired of this behavior. You've become detrimental to our team." Scout, from behind, reluctantly followed Spy. The two, at Spy's request, discreetly separated themselves from the rest of their team and into an unoccupied room. He remained begrudgingly silent as Spy resumed his lecture.

"Our team, boy." Spy believed that RED's integrity was of the utmost importance. "You're one of us," he continued, "a RED. You seem to have forgotten that. We as RED's, you see, take our work seriously. That is, except you. There's no room on this team or this base for your negligence. I don't tolerate failure, Scout."

Scout prepared to defend himself from Spy's statements. "You're acting like we keep losing because of me. You can't blame me for all of these losses! You can't point fingers at me for everything!" Scout's frustration toward Spy became apparent. "C'mon, Spy, seriously," he huffed, "this ain't all on me. I saw Sniper missing all of his shots that last match! You saw that too, right?" Despite the fact that he lied, Scout carelessly continued on as Spy addressed him with his undivided attention.

"Oh! What about Engineer? Hardhat couldn't hold up any of his sentries. They kept getting destroyed! As soon as he built one, it got shot down. It was pathetic. So, if you're looking to accuse someone for the shit luck we've been having lately, don't blame the guy who didn't fuck up out there!" To his dismay, Scout became aware of Spy's disinterest in him.

Spy dismissed what he was told. He was convinced that Scout deserved this negative encounter. Unable to avoid the hassle he expected from Scout, Spy proceeded to promptly respond.

"I'm very much aware of what occurred on the battlefield, Scout. If you're so concerned about the others and if what you say is true, rest assured that I'll deal with Sniper and Engineer another time. However, this conversation is about you, not them. Don't try to change the subject."

Scout crossed his arms over his chest. He knew to mind his behavior in Spy's presence. There would be no "unnecessary" yelling or "excessive" cursing with that man. Not yet, anyway. Spy was a difficult man for Scout to tolerate.

"You were nowhere to be seen the entire match." Scout's inability to cooperate with Spy irritated him. He'd much rather be occupying this time elsewhere. Alone, preferably. If Scout wasn't so unwilling to speak with him, Spy would be more inclined to initiate a conversation between them. "Scout, tell me... where were you?"

Scout shrugged his stiff shoulders. "Does it matter, Spy? Really?" Spy frowned at this. "So I wasn't exactly on the front lines. What do you want me to do about it? Apologize?" Scout forced himself to make direct eye contact with Spy's judgmental stare thereafter.

"I can't change what happened. Maybe we'll win next round, I don't know." Spy said nothing more. At that moment, Scout initiated his leave. Spy, impassive, made no attempt to stop Scout from exiting the room.

"I'll be the first one out the gate and the first one on point, alright? I'll take some shots at their Scout. I'll swing a few baseballs at a couple of heads... Hell, I'll even throw myself in front of a couple of rockets so you can back-cap or something. Does that sound productive enough for you?"

Scout dismissed Spy with a brisk wave of his dominant hand as he walked through the doorway and out of Spy's sight. In order to appropriately distance himself from Scout, Spy idled where he stood. He did this until the sound of Scout's footsteps grew faint from the hallway. At his leisure, Spy departed from the same room with absolutely no intention of pursuing his American counterpart.


End file.
